The Crusades During The 21st Century - 1973 Words

Beginning in the 11th century, Christians across Europe fought a series of wars and campaigns called the Crusades1. For many, a Crusade means any war embarked upon for the sake of a promise, vow, or religion2. After some time, it came to mean any religious war against non-Christians3. The Crusades were fought in order that Muslims would be removed from lands that had previously been Christian. These campaigns were most prevalent in the time from the 11th century through the 13th century, with some minor battles being fought through the 16th century4. Fourteen years later, the emperor Charlemagne died, and Christianity came under fire from Magyars, Vikings, and other nations who were considered to be pagan8. Throughout the tenth century,†¦show more content†¦The emperors of Constantinople had not been in communication with the Roman church since 1054, but they asked the popes for help with the issues with the Turks. At this time, Gregory VII was the pope. After exchanging let ters with Michael VII, one of the emperors of Constantinople, in 1073, Pope Gregory VII debated on leading an army to take back the land of Jerusalem, the Holy Sepulcher, and the Christendom. However, his time was occupied with the Investiture Contriversy12. The Investiture Controversy arose after claims that Pope Gregory VII had not been officially elected into office – that is, by the emperor – and was not legitimately a pope13. This caused the Pope to be unable to further his plans for the persecuted Christians. At this same time, Europe was divided into states that were bickering over territory14. During this time of war, in the year 1081, Alexius Comnenus, a general, took the Byzantine throne, becoming known as Emperor Alexius I15. However, at this time, it was the position of pope that had the most power, even enough to start a worldwide war such as the Crusades. However, no matter how much power he had, the pope could not have provoked the Crusades had there not already been conditions set in place which allowed it to happen. One of these ways was the ancient relationship between Syria and the West. At this time, Europeans believed that they were entitled to access to the Holy Sepulcher and, in

How Speciesism Allows for a Constant Animal Holocaust

When we speak of exploitation, holocaust and slaughter, we think of slavery, the five million Jews killed during the Nazis Holocaust, and the many casualties of war, but these numbers pale and are a minuscule fraction compared to the number of non-human animals that are killed daily as a disposable service and resource for humans; their death is invisible, their horror silent. The same facts that shock us become acceptable data, a justifiable commodity of modern living. These anthropocentric sets of moral codes we use to rationalize our actions do not hold upon examination, and consistently brings us face to face with our own intrinsic prejudices. What would you say if I told you that 100 million people were slaughtered today?†¦show more content†¦a prejudice or attitude of bias in favour of the interests of members of one’s’ own species and against those of members of other species (p.6) What these intellectuals and other anti-speciesist thinkers of their ti me had in common is the agreement that discrimination based on species membership and exploitation based on physical differences is not ethically or morally justifiable, because these principles are fundamentally the same as racism, sexism, and other membership founded prejudices. The arguments for speciesism cover a large span of human’s self interests. We are desensitized through culture, tradition, religion, and convenience, all of which propagate man’s dominion, and â€Å"supremacy† over all other sentient beings; similarly, Adolph Hitler’s claimed Germany’s superiority over other races and its God given destiny to rule the world and everyone in it.. The speciesist’s argument flips flops according to the context of the question. We are different. This concept is applied to the question of ethics and rights; by separating ourselves from non-human animals we can justify our actions, often used in reference to the morality of laboratory t esting, albeit, this brings up the question of the validity of such experiments. We are alike. Ironically, this also serves to

Chapter 2 Principles of Management Free Essays

Fundamentals of Social Responsibility: Corporate Social Responsibility: The managerial obligation to take action that protects and improves both the welfare of society as a whole and the interests of the organization. Davis Model of Corporate Social Responsibility: Keith Davis: A generally accepted model of corporate social responsibility. List of 5 propositions that describe why and how business should adhere to obligation to take action that protects and improves the welfare of society as well as of the organization. We will write a custom essay sample on Chapter 2 Principles of Management or any similar topic only for you Order Now Davis model: Proposition 1: Social responsibility arises from social power: Business has power over society and can influence minority and environmental pollution issues. Proposition 2: Business should operate a 2 way system: Inputs from society and open disclosure to the public. Proposition 3: Social costs and benefits shall be considered prior to proceeding: Profits are not the only factors involved. Proposition 4: Social costs shall be passed on to the consumer: Business can bot be expected to foot the bill for social activities; the cost must be passed along to the consumer as well. Proposition 5: Business has a responsibility for some social problems outside their normal area of operation: Business should help solve social problems, if they can. Performance of Social Responsibility Activities by Business: Perform all legally required social responsibility activities. Consider voluntarily performing social responsibility activities beyond those legally required. Inform all relevant individuals of the extent to which the organization will become involved in performing social responsibility activities. Performing Required Social Responsibility Activities: Federal Legislation requires that business perform certain social responsibility activities. Environmental Protection Agency(EPA): Enforces socially responsible environmental standards. Equal pay act of 1963: Equal pay for equal work. Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972: Highway Safety Act of 1978 Clean Air/ Act Amendment of 1990. Voluntarily Performing Social Responsibility Activities: Assessing the positive and negative outcomes of performing social responsibility activities over both the short and long term, and the performing only those activities that maximize management system success while making a desirable contribution to the welfare of society. Social Responsiveness: The degree of effectiveness and efficiency an organization displays in pursuing its social responsibilities. Determining Whether a Social Responsibility Exists: Determine which specific social obligation are implied by specific business situations. Ex: tobacco execs need to consider reducing harm to public while increasing revenues. Social Responsiveness and Decision Making: Socially responsible organizations are both effective and efficient in meeting its social responsibilities without wasting organizational resources in the process. Approaches to meeting Social Responsibilities: Two types of proposed approaches: Lipson S. Prakash Sethi Lipson’s Approach: Incorporate social goals into the annual planning process. Seeks comparative industry norms of social programs. Presents reports to all stakeholders on social responsibility progress. Experiments with different approaches for measuring social performance. Attempts to measure the cost of social programs as well as the return on social program investments. S Prakash Sethi’s Approach: Social obligation approach: Business has economic purpose and social responsibility is covered by legislature. Social responsibility approach: Business has both economic and societal goals. Social responsiveness approach: Business has both economic and societal goals but anticipates future impact of business practices. Planning Social Responsibility Activities: Determining how the organization will achieve its social responsibility objectives. Converting Organizational Policies on Social Responsibility into Action: Phase 1: Recognition, by top management, that the organization has some social obligation. Phase 2: Technical staff give input to top management for implementation. Phase 3: Complete employee acceptance of strategy and responsibility for implementation. Controlling Social Responsibility Activities: Managers assess or measure what is occurring in the organization and, if necessary, change these occurrences in some way to make them conform to plans. Areas of Measurement: Economic function area: Measure of economic contribution the organization is making to society such as fair wages, worker, safety, etc.. Quality of life area: Whether the organization is upholding or improving the general quality of life such as producing high quality items, preserving the natural environment, etc.. Social investment area: Assisting community organizations to solve social problemes such as education, charities, etc.. Problem solving area: Dealing with social problems such as long-rang community problems. Social Audit: The process of measuring the present social responsibility activities of an organization to assess its performance in this area. How society can help business meet social obligations: Set rules that are clear and consistent: Keep the rules technically feasible. Make sure the rules are economically feasible. Make the rules prospective, not retro-active. Make the rules goal setting, not procedure prescribing. Definition of Ethics: The capacity to reflect on values in the corporate decision-making process, to determining how these values and decisions affect various stake holder groups, and to establish how mangers can use these observations in day to day company management.. Why Ethics is a vital part of management practices: Productivity: If employees are treated ethically they will be loyal and productive. Stakeholder Relations: A positive public image is good for business. Government Regulation: If organization behave ethically, there is less pressure on regulation and corporate over-sight. Code of ethics: A formal statement that acts as a guide for the ethics of how people within a particular organization should act and make decisions. Creating an ethical workplace: The golden rule: Do unto others†¦ The Utilitarian principles: Greatest good for greatest number. Kant’s categorical imperative: Universal rule of behavior; fairness. The professional ethics: Assume you are being judged by peers. The T. V. Test: Would you be comfortable saying it in front of national T. V.? The legal test: Is it legal? The four way test: Is it rightful? Is it fair? Will it build good will? Will it be beneficial. Sarbanes-Oxley Reform Standards Passed in 2002 to prevent future deception in publically owned companies. Focuses on promoting ethical conduct. Areas covered include maintaining GAAP, evaluating executive compensation, monitoring fundamental business strategies, understanding and mitigating major risk, and ensuring company structure and process that enhance integrity and reputation. Supports whistle-blowing to discourage deceptive management practices. Consequences: Significant fines and jail time. How to cite Chapter 2 Principles of Management, Papers

Old People a Burden to Society Essay Sample free essay sample

For much of the last half century. public treatment of population issues has focused on the proposition that the universe faced a population detonation. Many predicted desperate effects as population growing quickly used up supplies of exhaustible resources such as metals and crude oil. The criterion of life would worsen as certain indispensable resources became of all time more scarce and dearly-won. This pessimistic position was non new. In 1798. Thomas Malthus. in his celebrated Essay on the Principle of Population. argued. â€Å"The power of population is indefinitely greater than the power in the Earth to bring forth subsistence for adult male. Population. when unbridled. additions in a geometrical ratio. Subsistence increases merely in an arithmetical ratio. A little familiarity with Numberss will demo the enormousness of the first power in comparing of the 2nd. † Thus. in Malthus’ position. population growing will necessarily surpass the earth’s capacity t o bring forth nutrient. ensuing in widespread dearth. disease and poorness. Modern concern over population growing portions with Malthus the position that population force per unit areas will hold desperate effects. However. the Malthus position that these effects are inevitable -the position that earned economic sciences the label â€Å"dismal science†-is non shared by informed perceivers today. For some. protagonism of strict methods of population control has replaced resigned pessimism. For others. a world-wide diminution in the birth rate seems to be work outing the job without farther authorities action. If you ask people whether we must go on to be concerned about a population detonation. it is likely that many would react that the job will go highly of import in approaching old ages. Yet. experts who study these issues say that the odds that population growing will do existent trouble in the foreseeable hereafter have receded. We do. nevertheless. face with certainty another population job that will be at manus really soon-a quickly aging population. This article focuses on one deduction of this problem-namely. the effects of an aging population for authorities pension systems. such as the U. S. Social Security system. that rely on revenue enhancements paid by current workers to fund payments to retired persons. The strain on such systems will turn as the figure of ind ividuals having benefits additions relative to those in the labour force and paying revenue enhancements. Population Projections When Malthus wrote his treatise in 1798. the world’s population totaled some 900 million individuals. Today. universe population is approximately 6. 4 billion individuals. and about 100 million individuals are added to the sum every twelvemonth. Figure 1 secret plan estimations of entire universe population from 1750 to 2000. including projections of universe population to 2050 made by the United Nations. 1 For centuries. the world’s population grew easy. as high rates of mortality mostly offset high birth rates. Wars. dearths and epidemic diseases caused many people to decease immature ; accordingly. mean life anticipation was low. In Europe. conditions began to better by the 17th and 18th centuries. with increased nutrient supplies and betterments in personal hygiene and public sanitation. Peoples began to populate longer while birth rates remained high ; hence. Europe’s population began to increase quickly. By the terminal of the nineteenth century. many other parts of the universe had begun to see additions in life span. and population growing increased throughout the universe in the twentieth century. World population more than doubled between 1950 and 2000 and has about quadrupled since 1900. Presently. universe population is turning at a rate of 1. 35 per centum per twelvemonth. Dire Malthusian anticipations have non come true. nevertheless. Although we do witness dearth. disease and poorness. as Malthus predicted. these events are normally isolated and reflect impermanent jobs. frequently created by civil war. Across the universe. nutrient is by and large more abundant and less expensive. measured in footings of the sum of labour that must be expended to obtain a given degree of nutrition. than it of all time has been. Agricultural productiveness continues to lift quickly. and it seems improbable that universe nutrient supply will be a restraint on population growing for old ages to come. if of all time. Furthermore. there are grounds to believe that universe population growing will decelerate during the following 50 old ages. as the U. N. projections plotted in Figure 1 indicate. Population growing has already slowed markedly in much of the developed universe because b irthrate rates have declined. Increased educational and employment chances for adult females. every bit good as more widespread usage of preventives. have contributed to an addition in the mean age at which adult females begin to hold kids and to a diminution in the entire figure of kids they have. Most European and North American states have already experienced a significant diminution in birthrate rates ; they completed their â€Å"demographic transition† from high rates of birthrate and mortality to low rates by the 19th and early twentieth centuries. Many lesser-developed states are now at the intermediate phase of low mortality. but still high birthrate rates ; accordingly. their population growing is rapid. Although still good above norm. birthrate rates have declined well in many of these states during the past 20 old ages. which will take to worsening population growing in coming decennaries. U. N. predictors expect universe population growing to decelerate to about 0. 33 per centum per twelvemonth by 2050. at which clip predictors are foretelling that universe population will number some 8. 9 billion individuals. Interestingly. by mid-century. U. N. predictors predict a universe mean birthrate rate-that is. the mean figure of kids a adult female will bear in her lifetime-of 1. 85. At that rate. birthrate will be below the degree necessary for population to remain constant-about 2. 1 kids per adult female. Consequently. universe population is expected to get down worsening sometime toward the terminal of this century. As Figu re 2 shows. birthrate rates are already below the replacing rate in many economically advanced states. As of 2000. the United States was the lone big. economically developed state with a birthrate rate above 2 kids per adult female. A Greying Population A diminution in the birth rate evidently means that population growing will decelerate. But no fancy computations are required to understand that a crisp diminution in the birth rate will besides make an instability in a population ; the diminution in the figure of immature people necessarily means that the proportion of older people in the population will lift. A good drumhead step of a population’s age is the average age-the age such that half the population is older and half is younger. Over the past half century. the average age of the world’s population has increased by 2. 8 old ages. from 23. 6 in 1950 to 26. 4 in 2000. The United Nations forecasts average age to lift to 36. 8 old ages in 2050. More-developed states are expected to hold an addition in average age from 37. 3 old ages to 45. 2 old ages. and lesser-developed states from 24. 1 old ages to 35. 7 old ages. Japan is today the state with the oldest population. holding a average age of 41. 3 old ages. Japa n is projected to hold a average age of 53. 2 old ages in 2050. The average age of the U. S. population. by contrast. is 35. 2 old ages and is forecast to be 39. 7 old ages in 2050. Datas on average age. as of 2000 and prognosiss for 2050. for selected states are aforethought inFigure 3. The world’s fastest turning age group is comprised of those aged 80 and older. In 2000. 69 million individuals. or 1. 1 per centum of universe population. were this old. By 2050. the figure aged 80 or older is expected to more than quintet to 377 million and be 4. 2 per centum of universe population. In that twelvemonth. 21 states or countries are projected to hold at least 10 per centum of their population aged 80 or over. Japan is forecast to hold 15. 5 per centum of its population aged 80 or older-the highest of any country-and have about 1 per centum of its population comprised of individuals aged 100 or more. The United States is projected to hold 7. 2 per centum of its population made up of those 80 and older. To understand the deductions of the greying population. believe about a household life on the U. S. frontier 150 old ages ago. The household was mostly self-sufficing. turning its ain nutrient. doing its tapers and constructing its ain house with some aid from neig hbours. The working members of the household had to turn the nutrient for the full household. including kids and aged grandparents. The kids went to work at a immature age. and the grandparents worked in the Fieldss every bit long as they could. The larger the figure of kids excessively immature to work and the larger the figure of handicapped aged. the greater the load on those in their premier on the job old ages. The fact that we live in a high-income industrial society does non alter the fact that those working must bring forth all the goods and services consumed by the full population. Non-working dependants are dependants merely as certainly today as they were on the farm 150 old ages ago. Those in the working population will hold to back up themselves and the dependent population of kids and aged. The United States and other high-income states have public pension systems. such as our Social Security system. to back up the aged. But the Social Security system sets the retirement day of the month by the calendar and non by capacity to work. Thus. today. many and possibly most people retire while physically able to work fruitfully. The graying of the population poses a serious financial job as the dependence ratio-that i s. the ratio of individuals out of the labour force to the figure of individuals in the labour force-rises. Government pension systems-Social Security in the United States-are where a lifting dependence ratio has its most obvious impact. Social Security. like the public systems of most states. is a pay-as-you-go system. significance that revenue enhancements paid by current workers are used to fund payments to today’s benefit receivers. instead than invested in histories or otherwise set aside to finance the benefits of those presently paying revenue enhancements when they retire. To be certain. under current jurisprudence. one’s Social Security benefits are related to the revenue enhancements he or she paid while working. but that link relies on the ability of authorities to impose revenue enhancements on one coevals of workers to finance benefits promised to another coevals. Obviously. as the figure of individuals having benefits rises relative to the figure paying revenue enhancements. the mean taxpayer must shoulder a larger and larger load or. instead. benefits must be cut. One manner to believe about Social Security revenue enhancements today is that they are like the nutrient grown by frontier hu sbandmans that they do non acquire to devour because the nutrient goes to their parents and children- their dependants. Some of the income earned by those working today has to be diverted to supply benefits for retired dependants. The load will lift well in coming old ages because the figure of retired persons will lift comparative to those at work. Projections by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development ( OECD ) indicate that public transportations to retired individuals for pensions and wellness attention will increase in the mean OECD state by some 6 per centum points of GDP. from 21 per centum to 27 per centum. between now and 2050. 2 Unless promised hereafter benefits are cut significantly. significant revenue enhancement additions will be necessary to consequence such transportations. However. as a recent OECD study concludes. drastic revenue enhancement additions could do affairs worse by cut downing the inducements for market work and for salvaging. 3 The OECD concludes that in many states it may be necessary both to cut down promised benefits and to increase the inducements for work. In recent decennaries. there has been a inclination for people to come in the labour force at a higher age while retiring at an earlier age. Consequently. the proportion of life spent working has declined. This phenomenon r eflects a figure of factors. including increasing returns to instruction and progressively generous transportation plans that encourage early retirement. In states that experienced a post-World War II babe roar. big additions in the labour force in the sixtiess and 1970s reduced the dependence ratio and enabled progressively generous transportation payments to retired individuals. However. if life anticipation continues to increase. as demographists project. the dependence ratio will lift and such transportations will represent an increasing load on those working. This treatment should do clear that the cardinal job our society-and all aging societies-faces is one of an increasing figure of retired people relative to working people. To avoid significant revenue enhancement additions on future workers. somecombination of merely two possible solutions must be chosen. One is to cut down the one-year payments to Social Security donees. and the other is to cut down the figure of retirement old ages by raising the retirement age. Not surprisingly. many analysts conclude that reform must get down by cut downing inducements in the public pension systems of many states that encourage early retirement. Often. public pension systems offer generous benefit payments to early retired persons. Although early retired persons typically receive a smaller one-year pension than i ndividuals who wait until they are older to retire. the difference in many states is deficient to deter big Numberss of people from retiring early. The United States is something of an exclusion. For a adult male with mean income. our Social Security system is approximately impersonal between ages 62 and 70-Social Security neither encourages nor discourages continued employment. Beyond that age. nevertheless. the inducement to stay in the labour force is low. Put another manner. the inexplicit revenue enhancement of staying in the labour force-forgone benefits-is comparatively high. At a proficient design degree. there are a figure of possible ways to make a more impersonal system with regard to retirement age so that at a lower limit. those who want to work longer are non penalized for making so. The thought is that one-year benefits need to be higher by an actuarially just sum when retirement is delayed. A recent OECD survey found a close correlativity between inducements to retire and retirement behavior-not surprisingly. people do react to incentives! The deduction of this research. harmonizing to its writers. is that labour force engagement in the 55-64 age group would b e increased well by reforms that abolished policy-induced inducements to retire early. Indeed. the study goes on to propose that policy-makers should see skewing inducements against retirement. at least up to some age. in acknowledgment that people who work supply a net positive impact on public budgets. 4 By go oning to work past normal retirement age. people support themselves and pay revenue enhancements that help to cut down the revenue enhancement load that would otherwise autumn on others. Several states have begun to harness in their public pension systems by establishing reforms that cut down inducements to retire early. Although an of import first measure. many analysts conclude that the age at which individuals are eligible for benefits will besides hold to increase in order to avoid significant decreases in benefit payments. The United States has in topographic point a gradual addition in the retirement age for full Social Security benefits from age 65 to age 67 by 2025. Our Social Security system was begun in the 1930s when the mean 65-year-old individual could anticipate to populate about 13 more old ages. By 2000. those extra old ages at age 65 had increased to about 18. The addition in normal retirement age from 65 to 67 by 2025 that is in current jurisprudence evidently does non travel far plenty to countervail this addition in life anticipation. Indeed. the legal guardians of the U. S. Social Security and Medicare trust financess project that. under current jurisprudence. Social Security spendings will get down to transcend paysheet revenue enhancement gross in 2018 and that the Social Security trust fund will be wholly exhausted by 2042. 5 The OECD has recommended a figure of other reforms to its member states to promote older individuals to stay active participants in the labour force. These include taking labour market rigidities that discourage parttime employment and implementing reforms that would increase the portion of retirement income from private beginnings relative to public pay-as-you-go systems. Such policy reforms could assist relieve the financial challenges posed by aging populations both by take downing dependence ratios and by prefering economic growing. Decision Demographic alteration in the United States and elsewhere in the universe presents tremendous challenges. In much of the universe. the combination of increased life anticipation and a decreased birth rate has created a state of affairs in which average age is lifting quickly. As a consequence. authorities transportation plans. such as Social Security. that rely on revenue enhancements born by those presently working to fund benefits for those who are out of the labour force will come under increasing strain. Policy-makers will confront hard determinations because financial balance can be restored in such plans merely by cut downing promised benefits. raising revenue enhancements or through some combination of the two. Two of the more toothsome and frequently discussed options are the remotion of inducements that encourage early retirement and a gradual addition in the age of eligibility for retirement benefits to reflect increased life anticipation. Whether such reforms will be suffi cient will depend. of class. on how rapidly they are implemented and how far they go. Endnotes 1. All population informations presented in this article are from the United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: The 2002 Revision. For the birthrate and average age informations. seewww. un. org/esa/population/publications/wpp2002/wpp2002annextables. PDF ( tables 3 and 8. severally ) . The universe population informations have since been updated in the 2004 alteration. and the 2002 informations are non readily available. For the 2004 information. see http: //esa. un. org/unpp. [ back to text ] 2. The OECD is an international organisation of 30 states headquartered in Paris. [ back to text ] 3. â€Å"Strengthening Growth and Public Finances in an Era of Demographic Change. † Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. May 7. 2004. See www. oecd. org/eco. [ back to text ] 4. This research is summarized in â€Å"Strengthening Growth and Public Finances in an Era of Demographic Change. † OECD. May 2004. [ back to text ] 5. 2004 Annual Report of the Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees. The U. S. Social Security plan comprises two parts. The Old-Age and Survivors Insurance ( OASI ) plan wages retirement and subsister benefits. and the Disability